THE DRIVE THAT WENT ON FOREVER

 The second day that we were in Colorado, no one could seem to make a decision on what we were doing. Finally, it was decided that we were drive over to Westcliffe because Mr. W wanted to check out some RV parks in case we wanted to stay there during the summer next year. We have some friends that stay there most every summer and have been wanting us to join them.

We were going to leave Westcliffe, drive to the town of Salida and then drive to the town of Buena Vista. We ended up going about 30 miles out of the way to get to Westcliffe. It is a cute little town with some nice little shops and a few restaurants, but it definitely isn't somewhere that I want to spend a month in. 

We did find a park along the river to have lunch. It was really peaceful and the river was pretty. After I had eaten, I walked down by the river to take pictures. I was going to step down closer to the river, I looked down and saw a snake looking at me! Yikes! I screamed and started jumping trying not to step on it and trying to get out of its way. Mr. W ran over and thought I had fallen or hurt myself. 

The last time I was in Salida, we saw paddle boarders "surfing" on the rapids in the river. This time, the water was down, so there weren't many rapids. It is also later in the year and the water is colder. We didn't see anyone in the water this time. They have closed off part of main street. Now, you can visit the little shops all along main street and not have to worry about car traffic. The vendors are also able to put their wares outside as well as inside their stores.

As we were driving, we decided to stop and take some pictures of the river. We found a picnic area and pulled off. We walked down to the river to take pics when all of sudden we saw 4 bighorn sheep right across the river from us. These creatures are so majestic. There were two ladies sitting next to the river that told us that the sheep had been down at the river drinking water about 5 minutes before we got there. I just loved watching them. I almost forgot to take a picture of the river!

We drove to Buena Vista and found a little coffee place to have coffee. We headed back to Monument and after having to change directions several times, we finally made it back. I was beginning to think that I was on the drive that would never end. 

Tomorrow is "get ready to leave" day. We are staying at Colorado Heights RV Park. It is a Coast to Coast park. It is $10 per night (Coast to Coast fee) and they charge $8 per night for 50 amp electricity. It is a very crowded (being very close together) park. The sites are gravel. They do have a nice laundry. They have an adult club house, showers, pool (closed for the season), and an office. I would not recommend it, but I wouldn't not recommend it. I have yet to find a RV park in Colorado that is one to rave about. 

We will be back at home on Wednesday. In some ways, it seems like we have been gone for a long time. But, in other ways, it seems like we just left a few days ago. That's how it is every time we take a trip. Once I get in the going home mode, I'm ready to get there. We will be putting in about 500 mile days for the next couple of days and listening to Asleep at the Wheel sing Boogie Back to Texas. 

Here are few last pictures for the road.

CRIPPLE CREEK, COLORADO

We stopped in Colorado for a few days on our way home. The first day here, we decided to take a ride to Cripple Creek.  The last time I was in Cripple Creek, it was literally a ghost town. The buildings were empty and falling down. It was as if the miners just up and left one day and left most of their stuff behind. 

I had heard that it had changed and it definitely had. Now, there are casinos lining the streets. It looked like a few restaurants that were independent of the casinos had once existed in town. However, they were now abandoned. We looked for a place to eat and even though there were many restaurants listed on-line, all of them were in casinos. 

We ventured into one casino to ask about eating and their cafe was about 10 tables right in the middle of the casino. They did not allow smoking in the casinos (because of masks), but the casinos were saturated with smoke smell from pre-mask. We began to think that we were going to have to drive somewhere else to have lunch. A guy sitting outside of the casino told us that there was a new casino in town and their restaurant was separate from their casino. Sounded like lunch to us. Their service was a little sketchy, but my lunch was good.

Cripple Creek has some really nice and interesting murals around the town. 

We had lunch and drove over to Victor, Colorado. It is a neighboring town. It was a ghost town too the last time we visited. It is now a cute little town with shops and restaurants down their main street. Their main street was only about 2 blocks long. They have redone the old buildings and it is slowly growing. 

On the way to Victor, we drove by an active mining area. They are still finding gold here. Once we arrived in Victor, they still have a lot of the old mines and their equipment still preserved and you can get out and look at them. I find them very interesting. 

The drive there and back produced some beautiful scenery. We had hoped the aspens would still be gold, orange and red and most of them didn't disappoint. This day proved to be the only day we would have that would be clear and smoke free. We certainly enjoyed the day and the beautiful weather.

SCOTTS BLUFF, NEBRASKA

We left Rapid City on Wednesday. We had been staying at Rushmore Shadows RV Resort.  It is part of Coast to Coast. We paid $10 a night, the Coast to Coast fee, plus an additional $5 per night for 50 amp electricity. That was the park's fee. It has nice sites. It has a laundry, pool/hot tub (which they closed for the season the day we arrived), a nice office, putt-putt golf, pickle ball courts, a food truck and basketball courts. Very nice place and convenient to almost everything. We headed to Scotts Bluff, Nebraska to spend the night. Scotts Bluff is famous for being a famous landmark used as part of the Oregon Trail. Seemed like a good place to visit.

The National Park Service administers Scotts Bluff National Monument to protect 3,000 acres of unusual land formations that rise over the otherwise flat Nebraska prairieland. Scotts Bluff itself is an ancient landmark that was once part of the ancient High Plains.  Erosion over a long period cut the surrounding valleys down to their present level leaving the bluff and the adjoining hills. The unbroken plains now lie farther to the west. In addition to being a prominent geological feature, Scotts Bluff was a major landmark to travelers in the North Platte Valley who were part of the great westward overland migration during the 19th century. American Indians lived in the area for many years prior. The vast herds of buffalo that inhabited the region made Scotts Bluff a major hunting ground of the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. An Indian name for the bluff is Me-a-pa-te or "the-hill-that-is-hard-to-go-around." Yes, I'm sure it definitely was!

The first white men to pass through the Scotts Bluff area were the fur trappers of the Astorian Expedition, who wintered there from 1812 to 1813. Until the beginning of the overland trail routes in the 1840s, most of the whites who saw Scotts Bluff were either trappers or missionaries. The bluff takes its name from a fur trapper, Hiram Scott, who died in the vicinity in 1828. During the 1840s and 1850s, thousands of emigrants traveling along the Oregon-California trails moved through the North Platte Valley seeking land in Oregon, California, or Utah.  Although a prominent landmark on the journey west, the bluffs were also a barrier to travelers, who used two passes to traverse them. Robidoux Pass was the primary trail until 1851, when Mitchell Pass became the major route. Pony Express riders, stage and freight wagons, the first transcontinental telegraph, and the military all moved through the Scotts Bluff passes over the next several decades. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 marked the decline of the Oregon Trail, including the portion through Scotts Bluff, although locals continued to move through the area.

Early in the 20th century, local and State interests devoted themselves to promoting Scotts Bluff as a symbol of the nation’s pioneering past. Following an intense lobbying effort, Scotts Bluff became a National Monument on December 12, 1919. Since we were spending the night in Scotts Bluff, why not go see a National Monument? It was some very unusual scenery and totally not what I expected to see in Nebraska.  The Visitor's Center has covered wagons positioned where the Oregon Trail began. You can walk out on a path to see an up close view of the wagons. We left the next morning to head to Monument, Colorado for a few days.

DOING THE CATHEDRAL SPIRES HIKE

In Custer State Park, there is a hike off of the Needle's Highway that leads up to the top of some of the spires in that area.  It is called Cathedral Spires Hike. The hike isn't very long.  It is about 3 miles round trip, but has an elevation change of around 488 feet.  The trail starts out on a pretty level path and quickly starts going up.  There are two spots along the trail that you have to climb over large rocks for about 60 feet and there were a lot of rocks. There was also a lot of small gravel/rock on the big rocks. This isn't so much of a problem on the way up, but did tend to slow me down on the way down. 

There weren't many people on the trail on our way up. We took our lunch with us and planned to eat once we reached the top and found a great view. We did reach the top and walked around the spires enjoying different views until we found a spot that had some pretty level rocks to serve as our table and chairs. It was cool that morning and the wind was blowing pretty hard. The spot we picked also kept us shielded from the wind. Actually, the weather was perfect for hiking. The cooler weather kept you at just the right temperature while you were hiking.

There aren't many parking spaces for the trailhead.  The spot where the trailhead starts is also a great photo shoot, so you may have to fight for a parking space. There is a spot close to the top where you are walking in an area that is a valley and you are surrounded by spires. Very impressive. The park rates the hike as difficult. I was a little nervous about the hike because I don't usually do difficult, but I made it. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to go up and back down, but that was with spending 30 minutes for lunch. There are plenty of spaces to move over and let others pass if you need to.  I used both of my walking sticks and that was a great decision. There were a few spots on the rocks on my way down that I sat down and scooted down a couple of rocks. But, I didn't feel bad because others were doing the same.

I was pretty proud of myself doing the hike and the scenery was very pretty. My legs weren't so proud of me, but they recovered a couple of days later. I would definitely recommend the hike.